Hope Fading, Only To Be Found
by Jen11
Summary: Hmmm...It's about Shelby. A bit about Scott. It's hard to explain, not really like the stuff I usually write. Please tell me what you think!


Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Higher Ground, and therefore own nothing. I am simply borrowing characters that I wish I had created. So real, so full of pain; so perfect to write about.  
  
Author's Note: Ok, I realize that this story makes absolutely no sense. It's an S&S, but don't expect too much. I don't know where this comes from; I guess I'm just in a weird mood. Sorry that the end is completely unrelated to the rest of the story! (It just came out this way, ok?)  
  
Hope Fading, Only To Be Found  
  
She should have known. There had been clues, things she should have caught onto.but she hadn't. She had been too wrapped up in her new life. The same new life that had wormed its way into her heart, forcing her to forget all that she had learned, forging a bridge in the process; a bridge that led to pain, heartache and blame. A bridge that had been burned down, it's ashes falling to mix with the raging water below, leaving her stranded on the other side.  
  
And that's where she had stayed. Stranded, abandoned and lost in a world she recognized, yet could not return to. She would not allow herself to become a part of that world again, not after she had seen the beauty and bliss her lost world had provided. It had been a glimpse at happiness, just enough to brand that feeling onto her heart, searing its way through her veins, forever mixed with her blood.  
  
The provider of that happiness was gone now. Lost within himself and too absorbed in personal pain, he hid in the shadows. His dark side would surface from time to time to pass further judgment, only to twist the knives of hatred farther into her heart. It would continue this way for a while. He was too ashamed, looking into the past to see what he thought stood before him, while she was too afraid and imagined herself as someone else, a monster not at all like herself, as she tried make sense of his cruelty.  
  
Meanwhile, time ticked by.  
  
Friends tried to reach her, tossing lifelines across the raging gorge, but nothing was strong enough to pull her to the other side. No one was strong as him; no one held the understanding he had once shown. No one else had lived through it. No matter how hard her friends tried, the pain would remain in her heart, denying her the chance to return to the world she had once belonged to. Hope began to fade as the pain built a wall within her in an attempt to keep the hurt at bay. But it never worked. All it took was one look and her wall would begin to crumble. Yet, what she thought was a good and fortunate thing at the time, words always seemed to save the day. They would never be the right ones, and she would be able to shut him out again. The wall would rebuild itself (although at times it may have been against her will) and she would hide away again, waiting for her prince to come.  
  
She waited for days. It wasn't until a time when she was truly alone that salvation would come. Of course at first it wouldn't seem like that was what was about to happen. He would ask questions. (All the wrong ones.) She would push him away. (Although deep within her heart was breaking.) And that's when the storm came.  
  
It came down hard. Crashing and pouring, the natural rebellion pounded on her resolve. She was weak and lost, alone in a world so much worse than it might seem at first glance. Dark thoughts haunted her mind while the cold invaded her body. She collapsed, giving up, no longer able to fight.  
  
And then she heard his voice. It was unmistakable. Maybe because she had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity to hear it, or maybe because she was meant to hear it. It was a signal, a lifeline that came just in time. Heat filled her body as he wrapped his arms around her, yet she did not feel warm. There was still that missing piece, that piece of wall that had yet to crumble. The right words had yet to come.  
  
It was later, waiting for sleep to wash over her, that she remembered the white bag. It was a memory from the past, from a more innocent time. The memory fell to the floor soundlessly as memories came flooding into her mind. For a moment she was back there. She was happy, completely oblivious to the dark world that would soon crash onto her, suffocating her dreams. She held one of those dreams in her hand, dangling from one of its pink ribbon laces. It was then that salvation came. He was sorry. The bridge was rebuilt with caution as she returned to the world she had missed so much. (But she wouldn't admit it, so don't ask her to.)  
  
It is now that her memory becomes part of the future. The pain makes her stronger, dancing makes her free. When she is lost, or the world has shunned her, as she is sure it will every once in a while, she will dance. The world dissolves in the background and all that exists is the soft music that plays in her head. So if she has disappeared, lost in the shadows of a dark world, you know where to look. Search within the darkness, listen for the music. There you will find her, dancing the darkness away.  
  
  
  
Thanks for reading!! Review if you have a second! 


End file.
